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Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, who topped of the many, many style-related things he was doing in this 1991 photo with the perfect punctuation: a hat, of course.

At the Brit Awards in February, Pharrell went Textacular with a mix of corduroy, denim, suede and flannel. (Get it? Textiles?) Backed up by a chorus of dancers who could have borrowed from Cara Delavigne's vintage Nineties closet, there was but one predecessor to this risky look. . .

But of course, Run-DMC, hip-hop's patron saints of Adidas, cannot be subtracted from the equation — their crisp track suits and Kangols are as influential on the Hat as, you know, Arby's.

Performing "Happy" during the Oscars in March, Pharrell accessorized his hat (because it's fair to say everything else is an accessory at this point) with Adidas sneakers reminiscent of Kanye West's Nike-made Red October (escandalo!) and a classic Adidas jacket, as close to McLaren's "Buffalo Gals" look as he'd gotten.  

It must be invoked: those abs, T-shirt and camo gave serious young Eminem realness. 

Leather retains heat, so Pharrell had to ditch his jackets for his performance in March in Melbourne, giving a little bit of retro-Pharrell vibes — simple white tee, cut-off camo shorts and boxers patterned with… is that Gak?

. . .as seen here, in a shot from his SpongeBob-themed 41st birthday party, held April 4th in Manhattan. Elements that are hand-crafted, or at least look that way, always bring a uniqueness to a look, and in Pharrell's case, his matching kicks and collegiate bomber evoke the fun, cartoony quality of his soiree.

It is barely an exaggeration to say that literally every post-Michael Jackson pop musician has in some way been influenced by Michael Jackson, but here, the influence is palpable: A grown man posing, in 1978, with a coterie of child-sized stuffed animals (a.k.a. friends for SpongeBob to play with at the adult party). The event was […]

In McLaren's case, his style partner-in-crime was iconic fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, with whom he swapped hats and crafted the look of punk that still endures decades later. In this photo from 1985, they'd streamlined the chapeau, adding splashes of colorful makeup and intimating woven/handmade garments with their color schemes and structure — not unlike Pharrell's […]

Here's Pharrell, in an updated version of McLaren's look at MOCA's 35th anniversary gala in March, informed by contemporary hip-hop and embellished with beads (plus matching his-and-hers Madonna-style rosaries on Williams and his wife, Helen Lasichanh). Every style icon needs a partner with whom to share accessories, after all.

Here is where it all began: punk impresario and fashion designer Malcolm McLaren, in 1981, donning an early version of the Buffalo hat with an intricate moto-inspired jacket — a fashion risk back then — doing post-arrest Scruff McGruff on his way to Sturgis. It's a strong look, and makes total sense why an iconoclast […]